Dimension Films, 2000

starring: Craig Sheffer, Nicholas Turturro, and Doug Bradley

directed by: Scott Derrickson

the plot: Det. Joseph Thorne (Sheffer), a police officer with a brilliant mind for puzzles and games (and a zest for cocaine and prostitutes that might seem at odds with his job), investigates the scene of a bizarre death: a man appears to have been pulled to pieces by hooks on chains (boy, that’s a familiar M.O.). At the gruesome murder site, he finds a candle with a child’s finger in it and a puzzle box. He solves the puzzle box and soon finds his life spiraling out of control, as horrible monsters and murders plague him at every turn. His only hope is to find the mysterious “Engineer” who seems to be behind the mysterious events.

why it’s good: This film is actually a pretty fresh take on the series, after four straight movies of the usual Hellraiser routine—unwitting victim opens the box, Pinhead and friends do evil torture stuff until vanquished. In fact, Pinhead (Bradley) has very minimal screen time in this one (which is sure to be a turn-off for some fans of the franchise), only turning up at the very end. The quality is particularly surprising, considering it’s a direct-to-video release (and that the previous entry was the obligatory “goes into space!” installment of the franchise). Sheffer does an admirable job of building a complex character out of Det. Thorne: he snorts coke, explains away cheating on his wife, and even takes steps to frame his nice-guy partner Turturro) without hesitation when things start getting weird. Through all of this, however, he manages to project a fiery desire to bring the child-torturing Engineer to justice, even if every step he takes to do so is thoroughly reprehensible. Nicholas Turturro also offers a solid turn as Det. Tony Nenonen, sympathetically trying to do right by his partner and falling blithely into Thorne’s machinations. When things start getting freaky after Thorne solves the puzzle, there’s all of the stuff you’ve come to expect from Hellraiser flicks—gore, body horror, and creepy, pale, eyeless monsters in black leather. The visuals on all these things are quite good, done mostly with practical effects. But the movie is more interested in building tension through the cat-and-mouse game between Thorne and the Engineer, with Thorne slowly losing his grip on everything as the bodies and weirdness pile up around him.

why you should own it: As usual, if you’re a series completionist, this is a necessary component of your Hellraiser collection. Moreover, it’s an enjoyable departure from the regular franchise formula, playing out sort of like “Hellraiser” meets “Jacob’s Ladder” meets “Bad Lieutenant.” You can get it as part of a cheap, bare-bones set (alongside “Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth,” “Hellraiser: Bloodline” and “Hellraiser: Hellseeker”) put out by Miramax.